


Iron Will

by nucifera



Category: Naruto
Genre: Artistic Liberties, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric, How Do I Tag, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, Strong Haruno Sakura, Why Did I Write This?, i think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-04-06 11:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19062091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nucifera/pseuds/nucifera
Summary: Sakura is born in Iron and only moves to Konoha when she is eight. Ino still saves her from bullies, but it's not exactly flower crowns and declarations of best-friendship.(featuring vague xenophobia, Sakura with self-esteem issues, extremely wordy writing. my b on all counts)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing and this is mostly for myself because I'm trash for strong!Sakura fics.

Blue eyes.

That was the first thing that Sakura noticed when she looked up at her defender; big, pupil-less, blue eyes.

She had been chased into an unfamiliar training ground by some of her classmates, and they had ganged up on her to throw her around. In her upset, Sakura had failed to notice that one of them had brought out a dull practice kunai, grabbing her by her hair and cutting chunks of it while the others held her down. Her savior had intervened at them at that point, chasing them off with practice shuriken, while Sakura was left trembling in a pile of her own pink hair.

“Are you okay?” the other girl asked. Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes and slowly stood on shaking limbs, nodding her head but remaining silent. She knew who this girl was--it was obvious once she got a good look. The blonde hair, the fine, almost delicate, features of a noble clan of Konoha. And the eyes. Sakura couldn’t bear to speak to her, let alone look directly at her. She lowered her head into a bow before the girl and muttered a formal thanks.

“Thank--” she cleared her throat and flushed as her voice wavered. “Thank you for your help Yamanaka-san. I’m sorry that you had to see such a thing.” She hesitated before saying, “If there is ever any way that I can repay you please allow me to do so.”

Sakura was now indebted to this girl, and her family’s samurai lineage edged on the corner of her mind, pushing her to consider how to honor the debt. The class system in Konoha is nowhere near as rigid as Sakura’s own home country of Iron, but she was reminded everyday by her peers that she was lesser than them because of her blood. In front of a noble, Sakura accepted that her place was at the bottom rung of the ladder and the other girl had no reason to step in. This was how her own clan had begun after all; generations and generations ago when Haruno Atsushi had declared himself and his lineage in support of Lord Tatsuo of Iron.

Unaware of these thoughts, the other girl simply laughed and shrugged, picking up her fallen shuriken. “No biggie! It’s not as though it took much out of me to help you out; those girls were weak as hell and I need to use this training ground. Two birds and all that, whatever.” Snorting derisively to herself she muttered, “Two years out from graduating and they’re afraid of a little shuriken.” She scrutinized the pink hair on the ground, before turning to look at Sakura. “Hey, you should probably go get that cleaned up...Don’t worry about owing me anything, it’s not like I need anything from you.”

Sakura froze. It was like each sentence out of the girl’s mouth was a crack at her pride. She clenched her teeth in frustration at the thought of the other girl’s callousness before lifting her head to meet her eyes. “Yamanaka-san, you are saying that you do not need any repayment from me, correct? We can forget that this happened?”

Yamanaka blinked, surprised by the sudden sight of green, _green,_ eyes. “Su-sure, yeah. Like I said, don't need you for anything.” Giving an awkward laugh, she broke eye contact, just as Sakura’s eyes hardened at her words.

“Very well then Yamanaka-san. Have a good day.” Sakura bit out as she turned on her heel to leave, cursing herself for the tears that were once again welling up in her eyes. She was already a self-conscious girl with low self-esteem, but hearing those words, however they were intentioned, was a blow to her pride. How shameful, for her family’s noble bloodline to be reduced to this! If she had grown up in court with her family, been raised in the tradition of honor and samurai like her cousins, she would not have felt such shame.

Had they been in Iron, their roles would have been reversed. She would have been strong, her name and features would have _value._ No, instead here she was: immigrant, civilian, reminded day after day that she would never truly belong to this stupid country. She was a citizen of Konoha was she not? She was training to fight and kill and die for this country, just like the rest of them. If she lived long enough, her children would live here. But no, her hair was too strange, her eyes were too slanted, her skin too white--everything that was a marker of her family and home were things to be ashamed of.

Sakura hardened her resolve. She had tried to fit in, be a normal civilian child, but it was obvious that she was not welcome no matter what she did. These people would not accept her, and she could no longer accept the torment and belittlement that they threw at her.

Assimilation had proven useless, and now it was time for a change.

* * *

 

Sakura needed her swords. As she rushed home, disregarding the confused looks from strangers gawking at her mangled, uneven hair, she gathered her thoughts and made a plan. She needed her bokken and her katana, and her training clothes… Although, considering that the last time she even touched her swords had been her first week they had moved here when she was eight, she would probably need newer ones. She needed her father, and needed to look into physical conditioning that wouldn’t stunt her growth. She needed--

She shook her head to refocus her thoughts as she reached her house. _‘Find the swords first. After that you can make a plan and address it with Tou-san when he comes home tonight.’_ Heading inside, she quickly turned on the lights and headed to the storage room where they kept all their keepsakes from Iron. As she opened the door, a wave of nostalgia joined the shame and injured pride and resolve that was all conjoining in her heart and mind.

The room was relatively clean and bare, for Sakura’s father had not wanted to bring so many of their memories with them to Konoha. There were some crates piled on the sides of the room, the middle left bare, giving a direct line of sight to the wall opposite the door. Two sets of daisho, held on stands at the left and right of her father’s traditional armor. Her gaze was transfixed on the imposing figure it cut, gleaming black plating with gold accents, still as magnificent as she remembered it being. _‘Tou-san must polish it from time to time, still’_ she thought, as she looked to the right of the armor, at her father’s daisho. The katana and wakizashi both looked to be in the same condition as the armor, and she immediately turned to the other daisho on the left, her own, much smaller, swords.

Sakura felt overcome as she stepped forward to touch her swords, warmth blooming in her chest to overtake the bitter cold that she had felt for so long in this country. As she lifted her wakizashi with trembling hands, she felt the tears fall as she unsheathed the sword with her now clumsy hands. Her father had taken the care to maintain her swords as well, and now they were here, waiting for her and as ready to be used as they were when she had first been given them.

All of a sudden she was back in the court, kneeling next to her father as he addressed Grandfather in front of them. Lined on both sides of them were the various members of their clan, bearing witness to the process of Grandfather releasing Tou-san from the vows of their family. Sakura remembered the ache of her knees of that moment, the miserable sadness that she had been feeling, the terror of having all those eyes, especially Grandfather’s, on her. And she remembered the shock in herself and the court as her Grandfather had stood and walked toward them. How he had lifted her father to his feet, grasping his son into a firm embrace and whispering his goodbyes into his ear. How he had seemed even larger up close, and how his eyes looked much kinder than she had ever seen.

He had gifted her with her daisho that day; stating that she would not have a genpuku but that she would always be welcome in their family. It was a gift greater than she knew how to comprehend at the time, and even now. But it felt proper, felt right, that she was seeking to reclaim her lineage at an age where she would have been getting ready to come of age and receive her daisho. She had been too young, too caught up in change and grief and loss, to understand what a gift he had given her, what she had almost squandered for the mediocrity of her peers.

But not anymore. Sakura would not be that poor child anymore. She was a child of samurai, two years away from becoming a shinobi and defender for this village. She would live up to her family honor if it killed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why did I write this? why did you read this? what am I doing?
> 
> That being said, Sakura is not really thinking rationally regarding Ino. I realize that it's an overreaction, but Sakura is a child who's emotions are all over the place and she resents Ino for her place at the top of the social ladder.
> 
> Also, I know nothing about samurai. You may find alternative facts  
> daisho: the combined set of a katana and wakizashi  
> genpuku: samurai coming of age ceremony where they receive their daisho and are recognized as warriors


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of insight into Sakura's home life

“Tadaima, Sakura-chan!” a voice called out from the front door. “I brought back some dango, would you like to eat some before dinner? It’s from that shop you like next to-- Oh my!” Haruno Akane started as she caught sight of her stepdaughter, who was sitting at the dining table with books on one side, swords on the other. This was not an unfamiliar sight (except for the swords), but what was alarming was Sakura’s appearance. Her dress had been a pristine red before school, and was now torn in places and extremely dirty. Her pale white skin, markedly different from the usual tan/golden hue found in Konoha, was bruised around her arms and wrists. And her hair… her beautiful pink hair was now cut short, the strands falling just past her chin in some parts and others left long.

Akane found her hand moving on its own accord, coming up to her mouth in some vain attempt to hide her shock.  _ ‘What could have happened to her?’ _ she thought, horrified. Just as she was about to ask her stepdaughter what had happened, movement from Sakura stopped her voice from coming out. Sakura set down the book she had been writing in and stood, grabbing hold of the katana next to her as she did so.

“Akane-san,” she addressed, “I am going to ask Tou-san to help me get better with this. I-I know that you may not understand but I got them without actually going through the proper training and genpuku rites and...well, it’s important to me.” She cleared her throat and looked down at the katana in her hands awkwardly. “I know that it must be very difficult for you to have to...adjust to us, and you’ve only been married for a year and you must want to spend more time with Tou-san but...I need to learn and I need him to teach me. I hope you would allow him to spend his time training me, at least until I'm up to par with them.” Rushing through these words, she dipped her head into a bow.

Akane stood perplexed at the sudden intensity from the normally very quiet girl. Or perhaps, not quiet by nature, but rather trying to be respectful of her father’s new wife? She let out a small laugh. “Sakura-chan, I think that’s the most you’ve said to me at once in the past year.” Smiling wryly as the head of soft pink hair shot up to look at her in surprise, “How can I say no? I hope that you know that I would never, ever want to get between you and your father, Sakura-chan. And I don’t want you to feel as if you can’t be yourself or live life how you want to.” Akane moved forward the few steps to cup Sakura’s small face in her hands. “This is your home and you deserve to be who you want to be. It must be very difficult for you, living in this place, and I’m sorry for not realizing sooner.”

At these words, Akane could see the tears forming in her stepdaughter’s eyes. She sighed and laid one of her hands on Sakura’s head, stroking it softly. “I hope you know that I am very glad to be a family with such a strong and dependable girl, Sakura-chan. And I know your father is very proud of how much you have grown already. If this is what you want to do, then all I have to say is ganbatte.” Feeling brave, Akane pressed a quick kiss at the crown of Sakura’s head before stepping away to allow the young girl to compose herself. She didn’t want to overwhelm the girl after all, so she turned to pick up her groceries. ‘ _ I should make sukiyaki for dinner tonight then, to cheer her up a bit! I can’t do much else after all.’  _

Decision made, Akane was about to head into the kitchen when she felt Sakura grab the back of her shirt. Turning back to look at the young girl in surprise, she found her stepdaughter giving her an unsure but warm smile. “Would Akane-san mind helping me trim my hair? I’m...I’m not sure what to do with it to be honest.”

The young mother felt her heart jolt with excitement at the words, and she nodded excitedly. “Of course Sakura-chan! I think you’ll look very pretty with short hair. We’ll do it now and then I’m going to make sukiyaki for dinner, sound good?” Akane was filled with relief and joy that her stepdaughter was finally opening up to her a little. She was always so formal with her, and Akane had spent hours anxiously wondering if it was normal for children in Iron to be so indifferent and… well, not like Konoha children at all, to say the least. But that one smile from Sakura had her feeling as though she was seeing the sun rise on a new day.

Cheerfully, she huddled her to the bathroom, babbling excitedly about different styles and how pretty and pink Sakura’s hair was, unaware of the blush that was forming on Sakura’s face, nor the quiet contentment settling in her heart. 

Today was the beginning of a new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got away from me a little bit? I wasn't planning to spend any time developing a relationship between Sakura and her stepmother but...here we are *shrugs*


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More family stuff yayyy

Sakura settled into seiza before her father, who had come home from work late that day, giving her extra time to prepare her heart. It was nerve wracking being in this position, and she felt exhausted at the emotions that had been rolling through her in the past few hours.

As she bowed her head, she couldn’t help but smile at the strands of hair that fell forward with the motion.  _ ‘Akane-san did a really good job,’ _ she thought admiringly. She now had bangs, wispy and falling just below her brows, with the rest of her hair lightly curled and reaching her chin to frame the roundness of her cheeks. The whole thing succeeded in making her head feel much lighter and breezier.  _ ‘I look older like this,’ _ she thought and figured it could only help with what she was asking for.

Across from her sat her father, thinking the same thing but with dread as the overarching emotion.  _ ‘My daughter is growing up’  _ He cried internally and glanced at his wife across the room with imploring eyes.  _ How can my baby be so grown up already? Where has the time gone?’ _

It had only been two and a half years since Mebuki died, since the time when he had to hold his daughter as she cried herself to sleep. He thought that he had been doing the right thing, leaving Iron for a fresh start in Konoha. He still remembered Mebuki everyday, but neither he nor Sakura had been surprised at her passing. She had been sick for a long time, though that did not make the grief any less real. Mebuki had been his best friend since childhood, and the arrangement between their families had not changed that. But Kizashi had not been able to remain in the place that was so ingrained with her. And that choice had changed the course of Sakura’s life unwittingly. 

_ ‘Days like this, I wonder if I did the right thing,’ _ he thought to himself, despairing at the sight of her thin, white wrists ringed with bruises. He wouldn’t be surprised if there were more under her sleeves, with the way she kept pulling at them. Steeling himself, he began to speak.

“You haven’t sat in seiza like this since we were in Iron, Sakura. Come sit comfortably and we can talk.” He motioned to the space next to him for her to sit.

“Tou-san, I need to ask you something so I think I should stay like this, if that’s okay.” She took a calming breath before continuing. “I know that you wanted to leave our old life behind when we left Iron but… I’d like to pick up my swords again, Tou-san. I want to actually be worthy of them and our family name.”

She hesitated again, peering up at him from under her bangs. “I know you put down your swords after Kaa-chan died, and I don’t want you to be sad again like you were in Iron but--well, I…” She looked down at her hands clenched atop her knees. “I want to be happy and I don’t want to make myself into something I’m not. Will you help me?”

“Sakura,” she looked up at her father. “Oh, of course I want you to be happy. I never thought that us moving here would make you think that you couldn’t be yourself. I’m so sorry for my selfishness...Just because I decided to leave that life behind didn’t mean that I could make that decision for you as well.” He looked at her with sadness softening his normally rigid expression. “Is it--do you want to go back to Iron and become a samurai with your cousins? If you are unhappy in this place, I know that your Grandfather would welcome you back gladly.”

She shook her head and gave him a wry smile. “I’ve gotten used to the nice weather and the trees here Tou-san. No way I’m going back to all that snow!” As he chuckled at her unexpected answer she continued, “besides, I’ve promised myself that I would be one of the best shinobi Konoha has ever seen, and make all those jerks who bother me eat dirt!”

“Ahh well we have to make sure that happens now, don’t we musume?” Moving suddenly to lift her out of seiza and carry her out into the small backyard, he patted her bottom affectionately as she shrieked with surprised laughter. “Then we have to start getting you into shape; you’ve been eating nothing but sweets for the past two years and it shows.” He teased with a grin, setting her down and leaning to look directly into her eyes.

She huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. “As if you haven’t been doing the same!” She looked pointedly at his stomach, which was the one part of him that had not remained the same after trading a warrior lifestyle with that of a merchant.

He was about to retort when a slim hand came from behind him to pat his doughy midsection affectionately. “Ah but Sakura-chan, I quite like him like this,” she laughed at their startled expressions before continuing, “he’s like a comfy teddy bear now,” stroking his belly teasingly.

“Akane!”/“Akane-san!” came the indignant replies, which she waved off with a laugh, heading back inside and calling out behind her,

“I came to bring you back inside...in case you haven’t noticed, the sun is setting and it will be dark soon. You two have all weekend to do whatever you want, but Sakura-chan, if you don’t sleep early you’ll never grow~”

Kizashi rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. “I guess it’s a little later than I thought it was. Akane is right, so we’ll start bright and early tomorrow morning.” He waved her inside with the command, “go wash,” before looking up at the rapidly darkening sky.

Thoughts of Mebuki always hurt, but he found that his heart shook tremulously with nostalgia and hope as he remembered a young girl, face so determined and green eyes alight with resolve to be the best with her bokken.  _ “Sakura is growing to be just like you, Mebuki. Our daughter is filled with your spirit.” _ Closing his eyes as if to hold onto that memory for just a moment more, he quietly exhaled and turned into the house for the night.

* * *

The next morning, Haruno Kizashi and his daughter could be found running laps around Konoha. From a distance, all people could see were two distinctly pink heads running at a steady pace, keeping time with one another as they made their way around the village several times.

“You’re going to graduate in two years and this is the best that you can do?” Kizashi scoffed, “These damn ninja.”

“To be fair, I haven’t exactly been trying very hard, Tou-san.” Sakura huffed reasonably as they ran. “I pretty much did the bare minimum to pass. It’s not like I had any sort of motivation to do better.”

He snorted in response. “If they were really good at their jobs they should have noticed your previous conditioning and pushed you to do better. We started training you since you could run without tripping over your own feet.” He motioned for her to slow and they began to cool down as they moved from their position at the Hokage Tower to their home in the residential district. 

Sakura was grateful for the stop, and said, “I didn’t want to stick out any more at the academy,” her voice laced with regret. She already was bullied for how she looked by the other civilian children, and she’d thought that mediocrity would help her to avoid the attention of the clan children who could actually harm her.

“Sakura.” She looked up at her father. “If you want to do well in your career, and in life in general, the best thing that you can do is to work hard. Don’t think so much about what others are doing; as long as you are doing your best, that’s something to be proud of.”

Sakura nodded thoughtfully at her father, as they reached the front of their house. Walking inside, the father and daughter greeted Akane, who had been enjoying her breakfast at the table. 

She asked, “will you be eating now or…?” trailing off and looking at them in askance. 

Sakura moved to sit down before her father interrupted, “Not yet Sakura. You know the routine.”

_ ‘Right. Cardio, strength training, and then breakfast.’ _ she thought. Sighing to herself she stood, straight, but then grabbed something off of the counter. Meeting her father’s eyes, she looked at him hopefully.

He chuckled, “Yes, Sakura, you can have a banana. Eat it, and we’ll head to the back in 10 to start up again.”

She slumped into a chair in relief before enthusiastically peeling and biting into the sweet fruit. Today would be brutal, and no doubt tomorrow would be worse. But she needed to get stronger, and more importantly, she needed to learn how to use her katana properly. It wasn’t necessarily the weapon of choice for a shinobi, and she would need to supplement her close-range skills with mid/long-range techniques like ninjutsu and genjutsu, but the katana was part of who she was. 

Making a note of the time passing, Sakura slowly drank some water before standing and moving to the backyard, equally awaiting and dreading the day ahead of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm probably going to do a couple time skips to move Sakura through the academy a little quicker. Probably will involve POV from others at the academy, as Sakura rises up through the class rankings.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a time skip!

Iruka slumped in his chair and began to massage his temples.  _ ‘The year hasn’t even started and these brats are giving me a migraine’ _ . He was not looking forward to this year’s graduating class. He always taught the higher level class, but this particular cohort had seven clan heirs and Naruto, meaning the Elders of the village were paying closer attention than they normally would. On top of that, the undisputed top student in the year was a civilian, and a foreigner. 

Not that he had anything against immigrants, but the fact that Sakura Haruno had risen through the rankings of the school within the course of one year had the Elders in a fit. Iruka was worried that it would reflect badly on him if she remained at the top by the time graduation came around.  _'Maybe I should just give them the rankings to motivate them a bit,'_ he thought. Students could usually tell who did well by the more physical aspects of the class, but to learn that someone was topping every single subject would surely motivate a few of the heirs at least? And then he wouldn't have to deal with the Elders... although if he released the rankings, then the parents would find out and start complaining about the school's training  and that a civilian was better than their children, and that would make the Elders even more angry, and then it'd just come back full circle. Nope, not doing that.

Sitting up in his chair he looked over the files on his desk once again. Pulling Sakura’s to the front, he began reading and within a few cursory glances, his brows furrowed in confusion. Her scores showed that she was incredibly well-balanced and well-rounded, with the highest scores in strength and speed, but also in weapons handling and taijutsu. She was proficient with her chakra control, and her reserves were also quite large considering her civilian status. The only area she seemed to struggle in was academics, but that had more to do with her history scores dropping her overall average--understandable given that she didn’t have the same foundation that someone who had been born in the village would have.

But even though she was well-rounded, there was still nothing that really stood out in her profile. Yes, she had been slightly below average a year ago, but her steady rise and consistent reports from teachers made him dismiss any thoughts of spies. She was an incredibly balanced student, but she had no real specialty as of yet. She had seemingly been able to improve in every area an incredible amount, without faltering, and her chakra control/ stores indicated that she’d never truly have the same difficulties with ninjutsu the way most civilians did. He frowned,  _ ‘it’s not a bad thing for a shinobi but…”  _ looking back at the picture of the girl with such bright eyes and hair,  _ ‘not bad for a shinobi, but strange for a child raised in peace.’ _

* * *

Sakura sat in her backyard, katana resting over her crossed knees, eyes closed and breathing even. Her hands rested atop the blade, glowing with the faint blue light of chakra that was only visible as the sky darkened around her. As she breathed in and out steadily, she cycled her chakra through her body slowly, pushing it through the points that she could see in her mind’s eye, moving it through her hands and fingers delicately to focus in on the sword.

Opening her eyes, she admired the blade as it gleamed in the coming darkness, imbued with her chakra after months of steady meditation. Not for the first time she was grateful for her grandfather’s gift to her. The Haruno all received swords made of a special chakra conducive steel, that could be conditioned with chakra to hone. Normal blades could be reinforced with chakra up to a certain point, but the energy would eventually become corrosive to the metal after constant use. Her daisho would never have that problem, and if she played her cards right, she could make them nigh unbreakable.

Under her father’s tutelage, she had been able to familiarize herself with the movement of her swords, building up her strength and physical control before trading her wooden bokken for live steel. Luckily, she had always shown a natural aptitude for swords; the majority of her time had been spent building up her overall skills. She needed to be stronger, faster, more flexible to be a close-range specialist, and so much of the past year had been improving in taijutsu, memorizing the basic Konoha styles she could find and getting knocked on her butt against her father almost daily. Surprisingly she had very fine control, and unsurprisingly she had very small reserves. Because of this, her father had instructed her to meditate by cycling her chakra for an hour everyday, and she had been able to see a slow increase of her stores. 

Slowing her chakra to a stop, she stretched out her legs and began to stand, almost toppling over at the sensation of pins and needles in her muscles. She scowled at the feeling, but quickly righted herself before heading inside to her room, calling out “I’ll wash up first,” to Akane-san who had asked if she wanted dinner. Tomorrow was her first last day of school, and she felt a small thrill curl up at the thought inside of her. Over the past year she had markedly improved and she was now the undisputed top of the class when it came to taijutsu spars and weapons training. It felt good to have her former bullies and everybody who had looked down on her know that she could now retaliate if she wanted to. 

Grinning to herself as she entered the shower, she let her herself hope for her class this year. Her classmates had been jealous of her, and had not been kind even if they no longer outright insulted her. Maybe this year would be different? Letting the hot water wash over her sore muscles, she let herself ponder on that lingering thought and hope. ‘ _ Friends might be nice,’ _ she gave it one last wistful thought as she let herself slip into the peaceful sound of water hitting tile. 

* * *

Sasuke walked the mostly empty streets under the dim yellow lights of the street lamps, sulking quietly to himself. Tomorrow he would be back at the academy, wasting precious time that he could be training, instead being surrounded by idiots. ‘ _ Speaking of…’ _

He started as he spotted the bright orange jumpsuit of the academy idiot sitting at a ramen stand next to a familiar looking Chuunin. The idiot was inhaling ramen like he was some sort of...well, Sasuke didn’t know what he was like, but he knew that the blonde was an idiot through and through. Anti-social as he was, it was impossible to not hear the blonde, and see the chaos he brought with his pranks, and hear about how he was dead-last of everything. Supposedly he’d also failed to graduate twice already which… Sasuke snorted derisively. You’d have to be an idiot for that to happen. The deadlast should have just quit when he failed the first time, but he must not have any sense.

Shaking his head, he turned his head away. He needed to get home and eat, his stomach reminded him, and he moved quickly to obey. 

* * *

Yamanaka Ino leaned over the counter of her mother’s flower shop and sighed, leaning her head on her hand. She’d hardly been able to see Sasuke-kun at all this break, and it sucked beyond all belief. Lost in thought, her other hand began running across the countertop, tracing out Sasuke’s name. She thought of his dark eyes and handsome face, and how beautiful he had looked when his face broke out into the occasional smile. Unfortunately, he didn’t smile that much anymore, but that was okay since he was more mature than all the other boys she knew.

_ ‘Ughhh’  _ she groaned, head dropping to hit the counter with a thud. _ ‘When there’s no school, there’s no Sasuke-kun. But that means that in order to see Sasuke-kun, I need to go to school’ _ . She didn’t see the point of the academy when her father could teach her everything she needed to know at home. It’s not like her future as a shinobi wasn’t guaranteed by generations of history and legacy. 

Well at least there was Sasuke-kun at school. Maybe this would be the year he says yes when she asks for a date! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sakura is at the top of the rankings but none of the students are privy to that information, nor do they interact between classes, so as far as she knows, she's only the top of her own class. 
> 
> **This is Ino who hasn't had any interaction with Sakura beyond Ch.1, and who never became motivated by one of her best friends declaring them rivals.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura meets Naruto and the chapter gets away from the author a bit

Sakura walked into her new classroom, banging the door carelessly with the full assurance that she would be the first one in the classroom. Her morning runs with her father ensured that she started her day early, and in the past year there had never been a student in her class to arrive before her.

Unfortunately for Sakura, her new teacher was already in the room scolding another student, and both of their heads whipped in her direction at the noise of the door. The three of them stood frozen in their positions, Sakura at the entrance with her eyes and mouth wide open, her teacher leaning over the sitting student whose hands had been rubbing the top of his head, but had fallen over comically when he caught sight of her.

Gathering herself, Sakura straightened and bowed. “I’m sorry Sensei, I wasn’t expecting anybody to be here this early.” Meeting his eyes unsurely, she hesitatingly offered, “I can leave? If you want?” her voice trailing off as she looked between him and her new classmate.

Her sensei’s face reddened as he hastily stood and turned to face her completely, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. “Ah Sakura, I’m sorry you had to see that. You’re free to sit anywhere you like,” he motioned to the empty room carelessly, “no need to leave since you’re already here.”

Sakura nodded, glancing at the boy on the floor (who was still staring at her?) before she began moving to a seat by the window. As she moved the man continued speaking, introducing himself belatedly. “My name is Umino Iruka, and you can call me Iruka-sensei.” He paused, seemingly waiting for something before nudging the student on the floor with his foot. When the boy didn’t move from his spot, he nudged a little harder.

‘ _They must be very close,”_ Sakura thought, watching the two of them. Iruka-sensei was obviously very familiar with the boy, and did not seem to have any compunctions against striking him, she noted as Iruka-sensei gave into his impatience and flat out kicked the student to get his attention. Though, she mused, casual violence was not... _discouraged_ at the academy, considering their future professions.

A voice came out of nowhere at that point, interrupting her thoughts with great enthusiasm. “Hiya! You’re really pretty. I’m Uzumaki Naruto dattebayo!” He appeared in front of her in what seemed like an instant, peering at her fascinatedly. “What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before and I’ve been at the academy for a while. I definitely would have noticed your hair. I’ve never seen anybody with pink hair before!” He grinned at her, bright smile unfaltering even as she looked at him uncomprehendingly.

“I’m Sakura?” she said uncertainly, before shaking herself out of her stupor and repeating more firmly, “Haruno Sakura. Thank you for the compliment. Pink hair runs in my family, and we aren’t from Konoha. Nice to meet you Naruto-san.”

If possible, Naruto’s smile seemed to get even brighter at her words. Evidently taking her introduction as an invitation, he sits in the chair beside her, exclaiming, “that’s so cool Sakura-chan! I’ve never even been outside of the village.” He continues to babble excitedly to her, and she tries to listen attentively despite being overwhelmed by his sheer energy. Glancing at Iruka-sensei, she saw that he had moved to look over some papers at his desk, seemingly not paying them any attention. Yet she could see a fond smile on his lips as Naruto continued.

“--and one day I’m going to become Hokage and everybody will recognize me as the strongest in the village and I’m going to travel all over the place and show them how strong Konoha is and--hey Sakura-chan where did you say you were from again?” Turning her attention back to Naruto she smiled gently.

“I didn’t say before. We’re from the Land of Iron.” She paused, wondering if it was appropriate before deciding her conversational partner didn’t seem to mind rudeness, before asking, “What made you want to be Hokage? It seems like it’s a lot of desk work.” Unwittingly she was reminded of the first and only time she had seen Hokage-sama up close, when her and her father’s citizenship applications had been approved. He was not a large man, but Sakura at eight years old had grown up surrounded by powerful men, and she could feel that he was much more than his aging, almost frail, appearance. All that strength had seemed so confined to the small room of his office, where he sat, signing papers, seeing citizens and smoking his pipe.

Naruto scrunched his nose thoughtfully. “I guess Jiji is always doing paperwork when I see him.” Snickering to himself and not noticing her surprise at the term of endearment, he continued, “one time I caught him when he was trying to run away from the mountains of paper on his desk. But everybody knows him you know? And everybody loves him.” He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he continued, blushing. “They know that he’s strong and he’s important to everybody, and I want to be important to everybody too. So I’m going to be the strongest dattebayo!”

Sakura stuttered, trying to find an appropriate response in the face of an unwavering ambition that seemed to have striking parallels to her own dream. “I -- um, that’s a very big goal” voice trailing off. “Gambatte...?” she said unsurely, not wanting to discourage him, but not knowing enough to say any more.

Apparently this was enough. Naruto’s eyes widened in surprise, ever-present grin going slack as he registered her words. The spectrum of responses to his proclamations went from blistering anger (the drunk who hung out at the market), to derisive mocking (the old lady who lived next door), to laughter and empty platitudes (Jiji). Nobody had ever told him “gambatte” before.

Sakura stared as the boy in front of her gave a smile that had heat rising to her face. Naruto was very bright--all tanned skin and sunny hair, excitable energy and bright smiles. But this expression was one Sakura had never seen on anyone before, warm and hopeful and almost heart-breakingly sincere. For Sakura, who had grown up in Iron, in the cold and the ice, who had been steeped in court etiquette since birth, who had received nothing but insults that felt like burning lashes from her peers in the village...for that Sakura, it was like the first time she had seen the sun in the sky and felt the warmth of it filling her, letting her know that there was more to the world than just the snow that fell from the clouds and covered the ground.

Naruto felt like the sun to her, and Sakura found herself actually believing that this boy could do what he claimed. That Naruto could become strong, beloved. And the seed of will that had been planted in her heart, the seed of dreams and ambition and strength that had been slowly growing through hard work, seemed to blossom with hope as she looked at Naruto’s smile.

“Naruto-san,” she asked, green eyes meeting blue surely, “may I be your friend?”

Sakura had found someone worthy of being a partner, a brother in arms, someone who smiled like the sun. She would not let him go, and unbeknownst to her, Naruto was thinking that very same thing.

 

From then on, the two were inseparable. When one spotted a head of pink in the halls or on the field, a boisterous blonde was always near. The year progressed and the two outliers of the class stuck together; not quite nin-born, not quite civilian. The top of the class with the very deadlast.

Although, Naruto was not so much of a deadlast anymore, with his scores rising as he spent more and more time with Sakura. She was unwilling to break from her training, and if Naruto wanted to spend time with her, that meant that he had to join in as well. It had the added benefit of giving Sakura someone to spar with who didn’t severely outclass her.

Where Sakura was refinement and balance, Naruto was a brawler through and through. Oh, he had learnt the styles and the forms they taught in school but, Naruto had grown up in an orphanage and had been getting beat up since he could remember. In the rush of adrenaline and panic, he had developed a working set of rules for himself in a fight, rules that had served to ensure his survival well. With Sakura though, he learned how to be more precise, how to hit where it hurt and use the least amount of energy to bring his opponents down. He learned that you didn’t need to always go for the groin or the eyes, but if you kicked the middle of their chest, they’d always go down trying to catch their breath, and if you blocked a hit you could use momentum to your advantage. In return he taught Sakura how to fight dirty, gave her an opponent who never went down, who could take a hit and always, _always_ , keep going.

They found themselves frequenting the training grounds almost daily, practicing their aim and working on the basic ninjustu that they were learning for graduation.

Unbeknownst to them, their friendship was being noticed, the accompanying improvements being remarked upon by their classmates who began to understand that the pink haired foreigner was winning all her spars, acing all her tests, and she was bringing Naruto up with her.

And suffice to say, a certain Uchiha was not happy about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not meant to be romantic at all, just two kids who have no friends who latch on to each other. Friends who inspire hope in one another are the best types of friends :)
> 
> *Also, Sakura isn't sharing that she has swords while in the academy. There's no real point in her bringing it to class.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura's dad is basically just Team 7's dad. That's it, that's the whole chapter.

Haruno Kizashi loomed over the tiny brat in front of him, suspicion and paternal protectiveness bubbling up inside of him as he waited to be noticed. He had been heading to the training grounds to meet his daughter and the blonde chibi, looking forward to walking back home to eat with them, when he had spotted the Uchiha watching them from a distance in the trees. 

Frowning, he observed the brat (who still hadn’t noticed someone watching him.) The boy’s skin was pale, almost as pale as what he was used to seeing in Iron with its endless snow and ice, and his clothes were ill fitting, hanging off of his too thin frame in a swarm of navy against near white. There were cuts along his hands and arms that had been very obviously poorly bandaged, and Kizashi felt his suspicion leaving him and incredulity growing at the sight of this boy. Even in Iron, the Uchiha name had been known, a founding family of a powerful hidden village, and there had been vague shock to hear how they had been massacred overnight. The boy in front of him was basically a prince of Konoha, head of his clan, and evidently no one had been looking after him. He lets himself wonder how a family could disappear from people’s minds overnight, as he steps forward to grab the boy’s shoulder.

“Do you mind telling me what you’re doing watching my daughter like that, young man?” He asked, tone mild, as he noted how bony the shoulder he was holding was. “I know she’s quite pretty, but I’m not ready for her to start dating, you see?” 

As he spoke, the Uchiha tried to throw his hand off, snarling with all the heat of an aggravated puppy. “Let go of me. I wasn’t watching her, you crazy old man. Let go!” He glared at Kizashi, holding one of his practice kunai firmly in his hand, clearly meant to be a silent but blatant threat.

Kizashi paused, pondering over his options. And then, moving his hand to grasp the other shoulder instead, he began to move them towards the open training ground, calling out, “Sakura~ It seems like I’ve found another friend of yours! Should I be worried that all your friends are boys?” Meeting her surprised gaze, he gave her his best, most disgusting pout, before wailing dramatically, “Our beautiful beloved daughter is growing up! Mebuki-chan, what should I do?!?”

Red in the face, Sakura did her best to act nonchalant in front of Sasuke, (who had apparently been in the area?), a classmate who she’d never spoken a word to. Internally wailing in embarrassment she spoke feelingly, “Tou-san,  _ please _ ”. 

All the while, Naruto had been caught off guard in the middle of his push-ups and had settled comfortably to watch the show.  _ ‘Man, Kizashi-san is the greatest,’ _ he thought, cackling at the sight of their surly, stuck up classmate at the mercy of Kizashi-san’s imposing figure and deranged dramatics. Sakura’s dad was like no one Naruto had ever met before. Tall and obviously in shape, with Sakura’s pale white, almost translucent skin, and long pink hair. He was like Sakura in that their features seemed so foreign, sharp where he was used to round, cold where he was used to warmth. But the man had greeted Naruto with delight, and had been pleased that his daughter had found a strong bond. He and Akane-san had welcomed Naruto into their home, gave him food to eat and a place to turn to when the loneliness of his cramped apartment became too much for his boundless energy.

Now, the man was holding Sasuke up in front of him, lifting him to eye level and speaking threateningly about intentions as Sakura tried to tackle and push him over, yelling at him to stop. All pretenses of nonchalance were gone, and Sakura looked like she was about to keel over.

Amidst this, Sasuke had given up on physically fighting back but was looking at the man holding him with murder in his eyes. Seeing this and feeling as though he’d gotten as much out of this situation as he could, Kizashi planted the boy down and patted him on the back. “Whoops, looks like I took the joke a little too far. Sorry about that brat!” He couldn’t resist ruffling the boy’s hair, keeping the weight of his hand on the boy in case he tried to run for it. 

Sakura caught her breath and bowed to her classmate, red in the face and hair disheveled. “Uchiha-san, I’m so sorry about this.He’s not usually like this; I don’t know--I’m sorry, this must be so shocking for you, he must have misunderstood something--” she babbled before her father cut her off.

“Maa, Sakura, I’m not dead yet, you can’t just take on my debts and apologies like that. It wasn’t your fault, so let me take responsibility, ne?” Shaking his head bemusedly at his too serious daughter, he turned to the boy next to him. “How about you join us for dinner? You look like you could use a meal, especially if you’ve been training as long as these two have.” Calling out to Naruto as he began pulling the Uchiha brat and his daughter, “Oi Chibi, you better hurry up or we aren’t going to leave you any food!” Ignoring complaints from both children and the squawk of outrage from Naruto as he scrambled to hurry up, he whistled cheerfully, before asking, “hey, so what was your name again?”

* * *

Sakura wasn’t sure how this had happened to her. The day had started out like any other, but then her father had burst out of the trees with Uchiha-san, threatened him over her virtue, and now said Uchiha was sitting across from her at her dining table, in her home, and glaring at her like she was the scum on the bottom of his shoe.

“Akane-san this is great! Can I have some more rice?” Naruto’s voice pierced her thoughts, and evidently Uchiha-san’s too. The boy turned to the exuberant blonde next to him, hissing scathingly, “can’t you go anywhere without screaming your head off, deadlast?” 

“Shut up, bastard. You should eat instead of staring at Sakura like that; no wonder Kizashi-san thought you had  _ intentions,” _ he said, drawling out the last word and snickering before continuing. “You’re being rude to Akane-san y’know; she worked really hard to make the food. Or can the great Uchiha Sasuke, genius at all things ninja, not even finish his bowl of rice?” Pointedly, he ate the last few grains in his own bowl before picking up the second bowl that Akane had filled for him, already used to his appetite.

Sakura watched in horrified fascination as the most indifferent boy in their class, the idol whom all the girls adored, glowered at her friend and began to shovel rice into his mouth. It was disgusting, and she was mortified. Grinning with his teeth, Naruto picked up the pace, and soon the two of them were eating at a truly alarming (and vomit-inducing) pace. 

Some time later, the two of them were groaning on the couch in her living room as she offered them ginger tea to calm their stomachs. “Of all the stupid things to challenge each other at, did it have to be eating?” She asked crossly, annoyed at having to take care of them. “You guys made a mess in the kitchen and I couldn’t even eat after watching you two,” she scolded.

“Hn.” Sasuke grunted at her. “There’s no point in challenging the deadlast at anything else, it’s obvious who would win.” Glaring at her from his immobile position on the couch, he asked her bluntly, “what were your scores on our last round of tests?”

Puzzled, she responded, “perfect scores in everything except for history. So pretty much what I always get,” she shrugged. “Why?”

If possible, his expression seemed to get even darker. “Next time we have taijutsu sparring, fight me.”

Bewildered by this sudden turn in conversation, she thought back over the recent events before sighing internally in realization and stating, “you know, if you want to train together, you’re free to join us after school.” Continuing before his hackles could get too raised, “the sparring at the academy is bullshit, there’s hardly any room for improvement and it’s  _ boring. _ If you want a real fight, come train with us tomorrow. We’re at the same field every day after school.”

Glancing at Naruto, she met his eyes and tried to convey her thoughts and apologies to him. Normally she wouldn’t have invited someone into their space like that but… turning back to their classmate, she could see why her father had insisted on bringing him home and feeding him. He looked frail, almost sick, with his sallow skin and too thin frame, dark circles striking on his pale skin and fine features. He had no family, and no friends. Mind made up, she decided to force her hand. “I’m not going to fight you at school. I’ll request Iruka-sensei that we never be put as sparring partners if you try to make me. If you want to fight, come to the training ground tomorrow.”

Sniffing imperiously, she stood. “Now if you don’t mind, I have to help clean up the mess that  _ you _ both made.” Looking at the two boys cooly before turning to leave, she asked, “Are you going to take responsibility like mature people or are you going to continue acting like children?”

She heard the sound of them scrambling to stand behind her and smiled. Her tiny circle had just expanded by one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am super embarrassed that people are actually reading this? But thank you? And I'm sorry? This is unbeta'd (as you can probably tell) and will probably be unbeta'd for the rest of eternity.  
> In regards to Samurai!Sakura, I think I want it to be less of an overt thing and more of an ingrained culture? Like, yes she has the swords but I'm approaching it as more of a shift within the fundamentals of how she considers the world. My take on Sakura is that she is from a proud warrior culture, has experienced the shaming and othering that comes with looking different and being from someplace else, and is bringing the straightforward honor of samurai (as stereotyped as that may be) into her relationships and career as a shinobi working in subterfuge.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 7's relationship begins to develop

At school the next day, the graduating class of the academy is treated to the sight of a disgruntled Uchiha looking extremely harassed. This in and of itself is not that strange of a sight--Sasuke’s fangirls were loud and traveled in packs--but the sight of the class outcasts doing the harassing was a novel one. 

It had started at lunch. Everyday, the class had been treated to the sight of Uchiha Sasuke hopping out of the window and disappearing as soon as Iruka-sensei left the classroom, a horde of fangirls from their own class and the class next door falling over themselves to catch up with him. 

Today though, the anti-social, pink haired Haruno Sakura and her exuberant best friend had somehow managed to block Sasuke’s direct path to his escape. And had promptly dragged him through the window anyway, Naruto laughing gleefully at the outraged shrieks coming from the angry fangirls.

This was a delight to people like Kiba, whose sensitive hearing was always being assaulted by the annoyances following the Uchiha around (he also enjoyed seeing Sasuke get knocked down a peg--his face at being kidnapped had been hilarious). For others, like Shikamaru and Shino, it was a nuisance they regarded carefully, a change in behavior from otherwise predictable classmates. Hinata and Choji became uneasy, recognizing the shift as something to watch but unable to fully grasp why.

All of them were surprised when Sasuke had come back unharmed, still sandwiched by Sakura and Naruto, and the three of them had continued sitting together for the rest of the day. And when the end of class came around, Sakura and Naruto preparing to leave together as usual, Naruto had turned to Sasuke asking, “you coming, bastard?” to which Sasuke had responded with a grunt and a sneer. And then proceeded to walk with them out of the classroom with them.

The clan children watched their movements sharply. This was a change they did not understand, and with graduation coming up and thoughts of team placements and designations forming in their minds, they were equally wary and intrigued. It would be useful to keep an eye on for the future.

* * *

What actually happened during lunch was not something dramatic, but a simple planting of a seed. Naruto and Sakura had dumped a struggling Uchiha onto the ground of their usual lunch spot, and before he could run away of pick a fight, Sakura had dumped something in his lap and sat down.

Ssauke looked down. It was...a bento? Confused, he met Sakura’s eyes and ground out, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?” 

Sakura sighed and shook her head at him condescendingly. “That’s courtesy of Tou-san and Akane-san. He expects to find it empty when you give it back to him at dinner tonight.” She shrugged nonchalantly as she opened up her own bento, Naruto already digging into his. Beginning to eat, she continued drily. “He says that if you don’t eat it I can’t fight you. And if you decide you don’t want to fight me anyway, he’s going to show up to your house and drag you to dinner. So… eat up.” 

Naruto let out a bark of laughter, wiping at his mouth with his sleeve before eyeing Sasuke and remarking, “I dunno what he sees in you, bastard, but Kizashi-san’s not gonna let you go now. Better eat and get used to it.” Grinning mischievously, he continued, “unless you’re still feeling sick after last night? If you can’t eat it, I’d be happy to take it off your hands,” reaching for the bento in Sasuke’s lap hungrily. 

Sasuke gripped the bento, feeling the hunger in his own stomach as he saw the other two children eating. “Your father is insane,” he grumbled finally, opening it up and beginning to eat, unwilling to let himself ponder on the food in his hands. It was good, just like last night, and it was for him. Akane-san was a good cook… and it had been a long time since anyone had made him an obento. Since anyone had thought to care about him at all, really. 

Fingers trembling, he clamped down on his chopsticks with more force than necessary and glared at Sakura with renewed force. “What does he want with me?” he grunted out suspiciously. The man had been intimidating and crazy, and when Sasuke had tried to fight against his strong hands, he had been unable to move. “What does he do anyway?” he asked with suspicion. Sasuke hadn’t even noticed the man when he was right behind him, and he had moved too quickly for Sasuke to adjust to. Sasuke had grown up around talented shinobi, had been born in a clan of the Village’s best. For a brief moment in the forest, Sasuke had thought that he had been hallucinating his father standing over him, before tan skin had washed out to white and black had abruptly shifted to pink.

“He’s a merchant,” Sakura replied, chewing daintily before continuing, “He handles a lot of the import/export between Konoha and Iron, and sometimes handles trade agreements between foreign merchants and independent vendors here.” She regarded his growing irritation serenely, continuing, “He used to be a samurai though, if that’s what you’re asking. He was second in line to inherit our clan before he gave up his sword.”

Sasuke sneered, “What, did he give up because it was too hard? Couldn’t handle it?”

Sakura’s face was a picture of calm, although Naruto could see the twitch of her fingers before she set down her chopsticks and looked at Sasuke squarely. “Tou-san gave up that life to make taking care of me his priority after Kaa-san passed away. It’s why we moved here to Konoha.”

Sasuke froze, as green eyes seemed to pierce into him. He thought of his own mother, and how he had found her that night, brutally killed and lying in her own blood. The kunai that he had desperately wanted his aniki to teach him how to use, imbedded in her body. He swallowed at the bile rising in his throat and felt the cavernous ache in his heart grow immeasurably wider with grief. He always,  _ always _ , missed his mother, but all of a sudden he felt miserable with it. The wretchedness of loss and guilt and rage and betrayal rose like a sudden storm inside him, tumultuous and consuming. 

Suddenly, he felt hands grasp his own and squeeze,  _ hard _ . He heard the words. “You are safe. You are in Konoha. Today we learned about the geographical conditions of Sunagakure. Suna is three days' travel from Konoha, surrounded by desert on all sides and the harsh conditions and lack of water mean that the village is rarely attacked or invaded. It also means that Suna is reliant on their allies and treaties for supplies, as there is little vegetation and water scarcity. The vegetation and animals that are native--”

“Native to the village are often poisonous and should not be consumed recklessly. When traveling to Suna, shinobi must always carry extra rations of food and water in their packs, as well as anti-poison tablets.” Sasuke finished roughly, throat uncomfortably dry and heart hammering in his chest. “Do you memorize everything Iruka-sensei says all the time, or do you just have a special interest in Suna?” He asked, uncomfortable with the concern in her eyes.

Naruto chose that moment to interrupt, and Sasuke realized that his hands were being clasped by the both of them and quickly let go. “Are you kidding? Have you seen her?” the blonde used his now free hands to motion at Sakura’s face. “She’s from  _ Iron _ , dumbass, of course she’d be concerned about going to Suna.”

And just like that Sasuke seemed to revert back to normal. His eyes narrowed at the blonde, retorting, “Who are you calling a dumbass, deadlast?” 

Sakura was relieved, interrupting before Naruto could tackle the other boy and start a fight. “If you guys don’t mind, we have to get back to class. You want to fight, you can do it later when we said we would.” Moving to stand, she reached out to pull Naruto off the ground before moving to grab Sasuke as well. Unlike before, he didn’t fight at her touch and moved with them, not struggling when they sandwiched him once again. Naruto filled the air with his chatter, and Sakura felt Sasuke relax into her side, even as he hissed insults at her best friend on his other side.  _ ‘This is good,’ _ she decided. ‘ _ We can work with this’. _

* * *

At their training ground, Sasuke scowled as he was, once again, face down in the dirt. “How the hell do you keep doing that?!” He snarled at the girl above him, whose knee was currently digging in between his shoulder blades painfully.

She sighed, stating bluntly, “I’m pretty sure that my brute upper body strength is stronger than yours, and I’ve spent a lot of time on my footwork and speed.” Wincing at a painful memory, she continued, “I also have experience fighting people much bigger and much better than me, so…” She shrugged. Sasuke wasn’t bad at all. She could see why he had been winning his own spars. He had a good foundation in taijutsu, had probably memorized his clan’s styles and worked on his physical conditioning like she did initially. “You aren’t balancing your weight properly, and that makes it easier for me to just work with your momentum. Honestly, you’re just giving me plenty of leverage to throw you when you do that.” She looked at him critically before continuing, “also, you aren’t making sure to protect yourself. You leave yourself wide open because you just try to focus on hitting me. But since I’m faster than you are, that kind of aggressive attack isn’t going to work.”

Naruto interjected at that point, standing from where he had been working on chakra control exercises a little further away. “Bastard, you fight like a textbook!” At both Sakura and Sasuke’s incredulous stares, he elaborated. “You have no creativity, and no--ugh, okay so it’s like those fancy instruments that people learn right? You learn how to do your part and you play it, but when you’re playing a song with somebody else who has a different instrument, you have to figure out how to play together!”

Sasuke stared at the blonde in disbelief, before asking, “ what the hell are you trying to say deadlast?” ‘ _ What did instruments and music have to do with anything at all’, _ he wondered.

Naruto scowled. “You heard everything that Sakura said to you right? What she learned about how you fight? Well, what did you learn about her?”

Sasuke frowned before responding, thinking back to their fights so far. What had he learned about her? Hesitating, he said, “she’s strong and fast… She wasn’t attacking, more defending and…” he thought back, “she doesn’t waste her movements when she fights.” Frowning, he retorted, “so? How does that help me to know that she’s better than me?” 

Naruto threw his hands in the air in frustration, saying, “How are you ever planning to beat her then, or anybody stronger than you? You keep doing the same things over and over again, and expecting that it’ll work like some sort of  _ idiot! _ ”

“Maa, Chibi-chan, while that’s accurate, it’s also not helping him to understand when you say it like that” interjected a voice from above them. Startled, all three children looked up to see Kizashi crouching on a tree branch, peering at them from above. Grinning at the sight of their faces, he jumped down, patting Naruto’s head in a placating manner. Turning to Sasuke, he said, “You need to work on observing your opponent, is what Chibi-chan is getting at. You’re right, Sakura was on the defensive, and she was waiting for an opening to finish the fight quickly. When you are fighting with someone else, you need to be constantly aware of them, how they are moving, where their weight is, where and how you can bring them down.”

Letting the boy stew on those words, he turned to his daughter, ruffling her hair before pulling her into an affectionate hug. “My lovely daughter, I’m so glad to see you~” he crooned, placing a small kiss on her crown before pulling away and pulling out a small sealing scroll. “I stopped at home and picked up something; how about a short spar? It’s been a little while hasn’t it?”

At those words Sakura let out a groan and Naruto a big cheer. The blonde grabbed at the other boy quickly to sit on the side, chattering excitedly that it would be fun to watch.  _ ‘Like we’re just here to entertain him’  _ Sakura thought crossly. While he might be entertained, Sakura would be going home with bruises. Quickly, she caught the katana that her father threw at her and prepared herself. She would have to be on her guard for this, she thought, moving to block as they began.

Kizashi is not normally very aggressive, but he often moves in that way in order to challenge his daughter. Oftentimes, he will strike first, just as he does now, bringing his sword down, and they begin to parry, trading blows to warm up. Gradually quickening, Kizashi decides to escalate the spar, moving suddenly to thrust his blade towards her abdomen. Leaping backwards with a roll, Sakura spun out of the way of Kizashi’s charge and moved to strike from the side. Anticipating this, Kizashi kicked out his leg, using his height to his advantage to make contact with her stomach. Unable to stop her momentum, Sakura moved the flat of her blade to meet the kick, holding the sword at both ends firmly to act as a wall between her and Kizashi in order to gain a few precious moments to roll backwards with the kick and strike while Kizashi was still moving. Bringing the sword down in a slashing movement towards his abdomen, Sakura was unsurprised when her blade clashed against his block, and he swiftly pushed her with the force of his sword. Sakura fell backward, only barely recovering enough to block another attack, her muscles straining under the weight of his sword against hers. Unable to hold for very long, Sakura spins outward, retreating once again as Kizashi follows going on full offensive with his sword coming down. Sakura is forced to defend the hits, arms weakening, as she desperately tries to keep up with the blows, and thrusts her leg out into a kick aimed at his solar plexus between one hit and the next. 

It connects, but at the same time she feels the top edge of her father’s blade against her neck, and she knows that she’s lost once again. She groans, falling back and panting on the ground, gratefully accepting her canteen from Naruto, who offered it to her with a smile and a high five for her effort.

“Tou-san, you might have to carry me home,” she complained. “I’m dead, you’ve killed me. Take me home,” she continued dramatically, laying back on the ground, arms limp.

Her father laughed heartily, storing the swords back in his scroll, before reaching down to pull her up with ease. “Come on all of you, Akane is waiting to feed us at home. Speaking of--” he turned to Sasuke with eyes narrowed, “how come I haven’t heard any thanks from you yet? My dear wife goes through all the trouble to pack you an obento, and you say nothing??”

Sasuke snorts, replying smugly, “Akane-san did all the hard work so Akane-san gets all my thanks. You don’t deserve anything, old man.”

“Brat!” Kizashi cried out, leaping to Sasuke and capturing him in a headlock before he could move. 

Dragging the young boy like that the rest of the way home, the villagers of Konoha were treated to the strange sight of a pink haired man holding the Uchiha survivor in a headlock, lamenting about the rudeness of children, while said child was fighting and scratching at him like an angry kitten, and two more children were following behind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Sasuke might seem OOC and giving in too easily but... hey, that's why it's fanfiction! 
> 
> Also, I've realized that I very much like the idea of touch-starved!Sasuke. He seemed to have been a pretty affectionate kid in canon, with all of that affection and love and comfort having dried up literally overnight... so yeah. I'm also a very tactile person irl, and so touch is a love language that I default to, even in writing.
> 
> And wow, fight scenes are super hard? And I don't know anything about swords or fighting with swords. I have no idea why I decided on this premise for my story.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Closing out the academy arc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felt right to have some introspection from Ino for this chapter. Still not really sure where her relationship with team 7 will go though, if there will be one at all...

In the span of a few months, Sasuke-kun had changed. Not only was he letting Naruto-baka and Haruno drag him around, but he looked more handsome than he had in a long time. Happiness was a good look on him, and Ino could see it in his expressions, his demeanor, and even his physical appearance. It was like she was seeing the boy she had known grown up, had the Uchiha Massacre not happened. The Sasuke-kun who had been full of smiles around his mother, who had followed his brother around with laughter… the Sasuke-kun that Ino had fallen head over heels for at the tender age of five. 

She understood him better than the other girls who chased him around. She knew him in the before; she had loved him in the before. And she had decided that she would stick by him through the after. She had seen his smiles and seen them disappear--she might be the only one in the village who clearly remembered how his laughter rang high and clear, exuberant in its joy. If only Sasuke-kun could see that she was different, that she  _ knew _ him. She knew who he was, and she just wanted to help him and be there for him. 

And so she didn’t understand this sudden attachment to Naruto and Haruno. The pair had kept to themselves since the first day of class, and hardly ever spent time without each other. Ino didn’t understand why them. Naruto, who was loud and thoughtless and disgusting (the epitome of boyish immaturity in their class) and Haruno Sakura, who was… not as easy to define. 

Ino remembered the girl from two years ago, who had been small and weak, who had spoken formally like she was speaking to a full court, who had been left in tears after a group of civilian kids had cut off her hair. She still remembered the shock of verdant green eyes and pink hair, dark bruises forming against thin white wrists. Ino remembered disparaging the noble civilian girl who was not from here, who thought she could insert herself into a place that she did not know. Ino may be a noble herself, but hers was shinobi nobility; a ranking and power given based on merit and strength. She had no pity for a civilian aristocrat from some foreign country who thought that she could become one of Konoha’s elite.

After that incident, Ino had forgotten her, uncaring of how the little princess might grow. If she couldn’t take care of herself against a few civilian kids her own age, she wouldn’t get through the academy anyway. 

And yet, here she was, befriending Ino’s beloved, beating everybody in the class at everything. It had been almost two years since she had first met Haruno, and she was still caught off guard by the differences in the girl. Haruno had shot up in height over the past two years, growing to be the second tallest in the class, right after Shino. Interestingly, her shoulders were rather broad, like a swimmer, and were only now beginning to balance out with her hips as her figure began to mature. And despite the height, she was awfully good at blending into the background. Haruno didn’t stand out somehow, even despite her physical attributes and loud friends. She was even tempered and confident, self-assured in a way that she hadn’t been before.

But she was  _ cold. _ Ino had gotten a small glimpse of that coldness years ago, but seeing it everyday was different. The girl was stiff, formal, indifferent to most people and things. She was obviously some sort of noble, and most likely from Iron or Frost based on her skin and features. Ino had originally thought of her as a daughter from some lesser noble family, based on the fact that she was trying to become a shinobi at all, but the girl’s demeanor and pride spoke of something more. It was confusing for Ino; a puzzle that she wanted to solve. As they drew closer to graduation it was clear that Ino would not be the top female of their class as was expected, and Ino was motivated to find out more by an odd combination of curiosity, jealousy, competitive spirit and wounded pride. 

Ino was not an idiot, despite what the boys in her class may think. She may be a bit lazy at times, but she’s been groomed as an intelligence gatherer since she was little. She was already slotted for the Ino-Shika-Cho team, just as her father had been and her grandfather before him. Hinata would obviously be teamed with Kiba and Shino, because that was a dream team for tracking if she ever saw one. And that left Sasuke-kun and Haruno, as well as Naruto, because the rest of the civilians were nowhere near their level. They’d be a heavy hitter team, with Sasuke-kun and Haruno being well-rounded fighters and Naruto’s skills in traps. 

That meant that Sasuke-kun would be further and further away from her after graduation, and closer to Haruno. And with how comfortable he already was with her, it would be easy for her to take advantage of their relationship as teammates! It wasn’t fair. Ino had been working so hard to get Sasuke-kun to notice her, and she was getting close this year too! But all of a sudden he was moving out of her grasp. And the smiles she had yearned to see were now directed at  _ her. _ It wasn’t fair. And graduation was coming up in a month, but the more Ino tried to get closer to Sasuke-kun, the further he seemed to be from her. 

It wasn’t fair. She didn’t know what to do.

* * *

Sakura stood in line waiting to be evaluated, Sasuke in front of her and Naruto behind. They had spent all their training time yesterday working on their ninjutsu for the exam, and despite that they were nervous. Sakura could see Sasuke’s hands clenching as he stared straight at the doors leading into the exam room, nails digging into his palms before she placed a hand on his wrist to stop him from drawing blood. When he started and met her eyes, she quickly glanced at Naruto behind her, wordlessly communicating her worry for their friend.

And Naruto was nervous. Yesterday, he had shared with them that he was scared of failing for a third time, afraid that somehow he would mess up and have to stay behind while they graduated. That they wouldn’t want him anymore when they saw that he was too stupid to graduate the academy.

Sasuke, in his wisdom of twelve years, had responded with an inelegant snort, stating, “If we considered intelligence as a factor for our relationships, we wouldn’t be friends anyway dumbass.”

Silence had abounded as Naruto had stared at him, dumbfounded, while Sakura had let out a yelp of laughter in surprise. “I guess this means that Sasuke really does love us, ne Naruto?” She asked, nudging him out of his stupor. Continuing, she said, “You’ve gotten so much better at the ninjutsu, and even if your clone isn’t perfect, it’s definitely passable. All your other scores have gone up too, your overall will definitely be enough to graduate.”

Sasuke agreed with a grunt and Naruto had hugged them both in his joy. But that had been last night, and now with the time approaching, his normally sun-kissed skin was ashen with fear. Meeting their eyes, he attempted a smile, laughing awkwardly as he extended his hands to show them the slight trembling of his fingers. 

“I guess I’m still a bit nervous,” he chuckled awkwardly, grasping at their hands tightly. “Keep thinking of the what-ifs, y’know?” He shook his head, “I just really don’t want to fail again.”

They squeezed his hands back, Sakura looking at him imploringly and Sasuke looking away as if unaware of what his hands were doing. “Tch, you’ll be fine. Just do it like we practiced and you’ll pass.” 

Sakura added, “We know you can do it, Naruto. You just have to believe it too, right?” Giving a small smile as his face lit up at his signature phrase, he pulled them both into an abrupt hug.

“That’s right Sakura-chan! I’m going to be Hokage one day. Believe it!” He exclaimed into their ears cheerfully, ignoring (or ignorant of) the eyes on them.

Sasuke allowed it for only a moment before pulling himself away roughly and moving forward in the line, face impassive but ears tinged pink with embarrassment. He cleared his throat before shooting a look at them and replying, “You’d better be ready to pass, dobe. It’s my turn next, which means it’ll be your turn soon.”

Sakura smiled at the two of them, her precious first friends. “Hey, wouldn’t it be great to be on a team together? Just think about all the cool stuff we’d learn. Focus on that instead of the test itself okay? Think about us as a team, going on missions and growing stronger together. This is just the first step to that.”

Naruto beamed at the thought. “Sakura-chan, that would be awesome! Maybe I’ll ask Jiji if he can put us together. There’s gotta be some kinda perk to knowing the Hokage!”

Sakura laughed and nodded as Sasuke was called into the room. Squeezing his shoulder as he moved forward, they cheered him on as the door behind him closed. ‘ _ This is it,’ _ she thought as visions of what could be filled her mind.  _ ‘We’re almost there.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for frAnS :)


End file.
